News
Project BMW E30 318iS - Custom Racing Seat Mounts October 11 2013
It is a little known fact that the diminutive BMW E30 318iS can be configured to have seating for 7. I was driving away from a Craigslist purchase with two racing seats riding along in the back seat. They were Italian OMP "Record" seats that were expired per FIA regulation and were no longer of any use to the owner. They had a couple of tears in a few places, but were in otherwise great condition. The seller included the accompanying mounting brackets to sweeten the deal. The seats bounced around the back of the car as I drove back home. With the windows open and the 16 valve 4 cylinder at full song, I couldn't help but be in a good mood. Our project car was going to take one step closer to being a track car.
Maxine the 318 - Rust Treatment July 22 2013
Maxine's battery had issues holding charge, and the culprit was a battery that had started to leak battery acid. After removing the battery and the battery tray, it didn't look good. There had obviously been a long history of leaky batteries. This could not stand. To battle this rust, I employed POR15.
Introducing Maxine - 1991 BMW 318iS Project Car May 02 2013
“Runs like a champion,” said the Craigslist ad.
I had been looking for a second car for months. I was looking for a beater that I could drive for times when my 1998 BMW M3 would be down for maintenance and modification. I wanted something to soak up the 30 minutes of daily highway commuting. I wanted something cheap to run on the street and on the track. I wanted something fun to drive. I wanted something easy to wrench on.
I had been looking for a BMW E30 chassis 318iS for four months at the time. I was only able to find 1 in the entire US, and this one just so happened to be within a 3 hour drive. So I made the trip from Dallas down to Austin to check it out. Like a scene out of a organized crime movie, we met at night in a movie theatre parking lot. The owner was a Russian man with a shaved head and a stocky build. He spoke with a moderate Russian accent. “Runs like a champion” he said again in person, as if he was trying to reinforce the slogan from his Craigslist ad. There the car was in its faded red paint. There was a fender that was dented up, and the Carfax showed that the car had been in a fender bender about a decade ago.